1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bioptome for making extractions from within the body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A bioptome is a medical instrument that is used to make extractions, usually of biopsy tissue specimens, from within the body. It basically consists of three parts: an elongated member that may be inserted into the body to the extraction site via body canals such as the circulatory system, the urinary tract or the respiratory system, a pair of jaws attached to one end of the elongated member, and a handle attached to the other end of the elongated member by which the jaws are operated remotely.
The bioptome of the present invention began as an almost complete modification of a bioptome developed in Japan by Konno and Sakakibara and described in Japan Heart J, v 3, pp 537- 42, 1962. That modification and several versions of it have been in use at Stanford University for several years and have been on sale in the United States prior to May 1974. Those bioptomes were designed, manufactured and sold by the inventor of the present invention and are described in "Experience with Fifty-four Cardiac Transplants", Surgery, v 74, 1973 and "A New Instrument for Transvenous Cardiac Biopsy", Amer J of Cardiology, v 33, February 1974. The present invention is an improved version of those bioptomes.